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Dealers debate whether CRM providers should automatically opt out inactive customers based on their own definitions of "active relationship," with the original poster arguing this constitutes inappropriate data control. The discussion reveals a key tension: CRM providers claim legal obligation to prevent spam compliance violations (particularly CASL in Canada and telemarketing laws), while dealers argue the CRM cannot accurately determine relationship status and that responsibility should fall on dealers themselves or specialized email vendors.
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Alex Snyder initiated a poll to determine average pay for Internet Sales Managers and Directors at dealerships, intending to help professionals negotiate raises. Respondents revealed that ISMs perform extremely broad job responsibilities—ranging from lead management and website/SEO optimization to social media, inventory photography, IT support, and floor sales coverage—while questioning whether their compensation reflects this workload. The overwhelming sentiment expressed frustration that ISM positions are significantly underpaid relative to their actual duties and responsibilities.
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Jeff Kershner created a poll asking the DealerRefresh community to guess the real identity of "kcar," a member he accuses of trolling and adding little value to discussions. Kcar responds by joking that he's Kershner's "certified personal assistant" and will rebrand the site as "KcarRefresh.com," while other members speculate he could be Cardoll, Jeff's alter ego, or a specific Northeast-based industry figure, but no definitive answer emerges.
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Dealers and industry professionals debate whether vehicle subscription services like Fair can work economically, with most agreeing the model is appealing to consumers but financially challenging to sustain. The key insight is that depreciation is the critical factor determining viability—Fair's advantage lies in purchasing already-depreciated used vehicles, while OEMs and dealers attempting subscriptions with new cars face unsustainable losses, making these services likely viable only as premium offerings for luxury brands or the wealthy.
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Steve Stauning poses a hypothetical question about whether Craigslist should offer third-party vehicle inspections for a $59 fee, seeking community feedback on whether buyers, FSBO sellers, and dealers would adopt the service. Respondents largely agree that demand would be limited across all parties, with most citing low buyer interest and seller/dealer reluctance to pay additional fees, drawing parallels to eBay's failed partnership with Pep Boys for inspections. The consensus suggests that while a small minority might value independent inspections, the service would struggle to gain meaningful adoption in the used car market.
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A dealership discovered they were being overcharged by CDK for their DMS system, with invoices showing charges for both EVO and NXT despite only using EVO. The overcharge had been occurring for an extended period and went unnoticed due to vague invoice descriptions, though a CDK sales rep acknowledged the billing error and indicated he would escalate the issue to his manager.
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DealerRefresh is promoting their presence at the 2017 DrivingSales Executive Summit in Las Vegas (October 22-24) and encouraging forum members to connect with them there for meet-and-greets, interviews, or video appearances, with a potential exclusive dinner event for premium members. The post also advertises a 20% discount on dealer passes available through the Deals4Dealers section for logged-in users. A few members confirm their attendance plans, with one noting he'll be at the automotiveMastermind table during the reception.
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Dealer.com's platform was inflating direct traffic metrics in Google Analytics for approximately 16% of their client sites due to tracking code from a third-party Edmunds.com integration that was overwriting Google session IDs with each website event. Wikimotive identified and resolved the issue by deactivating the problematic integrations, though the decision to reactivate them is pending discussions with Edmunds. The discovery began when dealers and marketing professionals noticed unusual traffic patterns starting in August following Dealer.com's site updates.
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Dealers debate whether 3rd party leads are worth purchasing, with most expressing skepticism about quality due to lead duplication, reselling across multiple buyers, and questionable data collection practices. The consensus is that lead quality varies significantly by provider and source—OEM programs (especially Toyota) and intent-based platforms perform better than generic resellers like Autobytel or Relevate—and success depends more on having proper follow-up processes and realistic expectations than on the leads themselves. The underlying problem isn't that 3rd party leads can't be improved, but that the financial incentive to resell leads to multiple dealers creates an inherently flawed system.
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A dealer questions the reliability of "Fair Market Price" tools found across car-buying websites, noting that no pricing algorithm has achieved widespread dealer consensus on accuracy. The original post raises a critical methodological concern: whether these tools are using actual sales data (like TrueCar's dealer-reported figures) or merely inflating listing prices as if they were completed sales, and challenges the premise that any computer algorithm can accurately determine value in a free market where price is ultimately determined by individual buyer willingness to pay.
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A freelance website designer seeks feedback from dealers on building a custom dealership website platform, prompting discussion about the balance between design/UX and backend functionality. Key respondents emphasize that while attractive, high-converting design is essential, dealers also need robust management tools including inventory integration, lead distribution, and vendor connectivity—though these can potentially be handled through account reps or simple integrations rather than complex dealer-facing interfaces.
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A dealer named Carluminati recommends Hello Bar, a free conversion-focused website tool created by marketer Neil Patel, praising it as cheap, easy, and effective for automotive digital marketing. Replies show mixed perspectives: some express interest in testing it, while others raise concerns about whether users find bar-style notifications intrusive, though the consensus suggests it's less annoying than traditional popups. The key takeaway is that Hello Bar warrants testing as a conversion tool, but effectiveness depends on your specific audience and their tolerance for on-site notifications.
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The thread discusses an Automotive News report highlighting a sales slowdown in the used car market, driven by record numbers of underwater vehicle owners caused by higher transaction prices, extended loan terms, and declining used car values. The original poster asks dealers to share what strategies their stores are implementing to navigate these challenging market conditions. The thread appears to focus on whether industry data about declining used car sales reflects reality on dealer lots and what operational adjustments dealerships are making in response.
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The thread discusses why referral business is underutilized in automotive sales despite its superior conversion rates and customer lifetime value, with participants identifying that salespeople rarely ask for referrals because they lack ownership mentality over their customer portfolios. Key takeaways include simple tactics like monthly customer follow-up and the critical need for management to enforce consistent referral-asking behavior as a core sales discipline. The core insight is that generating referrals requires both salesperson accountability and systematic processes—not sophisticated tools—to turn an underperforming opportunity into a revenue driver.
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Simple Recon announced the launch of an Amazon Alexa Skill for dealership inventory tracking, enabling managers to receive quick reconditioning updates via voice commands. The forum moderator was skeptical but acknowledged potential value for on-the-fly data access, while Simple Recon positioned the integration as a way to restore more natural human interaction and convenience by allowing managers to check inventory status hands-free from anywhere. The thread ultimately reflects cautious openness to the innovation, with the practical use case of quick, remote inventory checks emerging as the most concrete benefit.
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Automotive dealers debate whether GM's mandate requiring digital signage in showrooms—costing $2,000-$3,000 monthly—is a necessary investment or wasteful requirement imposed by manufacturers out of touch with real dealership operations. Multiple dealers report that showroom kiosks go largely unused by customers, while acknowledging that digital displays have some utility in service departments for managing customer flow and transparency. The prevailing sentiment is that manufacturers should base facility requirements on real-world dealer data rather than focus groups, as individual dealer circumstances vary too widely for one-size-fits-all mandates.
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Ryan Hartigan initiates a discussion about dealer website costs and ROI, arguing that expensive custom builds ($40K+) may not outperform cheaper alternatives if traffic and conversion strategy are lacking, sparking debate about whether dealers need sophisticated platforms or streamlined, conversion-focused sites. The thread reveals fundamental disagreement about website philosophy: Ryan champions lean, lead-generation-focused designs, while Alexander Lau and others defend full-featured automotive platforms with proper support, SRP/VDP pages, and CRM integration as necessary investments. The discussion exposes the tension between cost-cutting and the specialized requirements of automotive sales, with experienced dealers suggesting that website complexity and cost aren't the real problem—traffic generation and sales strategy are.
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The thread discusses why dealerships should adopt SMS/texting to communicate with customers (citing an 80%+ response rate versus 20% for email and voicemail) and debates the best infrastructure for doing so. A key insight emerges: while personal cell phone numbers are simple to implement, they create liability if salespeople leave—leading experienced dealers to recommend Google Voice numbers or dedicated texting platforms that keep customer relationships tied to the dealership rather than individual employees. The discussion also emphasizes the importance of obtaining customer permission before initiating text contact and acknowledges the practical challenge of getting salespeople to adopt texting as a standard communication method.
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Dealers debate whether to rely solely on manufacturer-mandated OEM websites or invest in custom dealer-built sites, with most experienced digital professionals arguing custom sites offer superior branding, functionality, analytics, and SEO—though they require sustained commitment and skilled staff to maintain. Key tension emerges between the OEM perspective (standardized sites ensure minimum quality across all dealers) and top-performing dealers' needs (custom sites allow competitive differentiation and advanced features). The practical consensus leans toward custom sites for competitive markets and engaged dealers, but acknowledges real risks: staff turnover, content decay, Google ranking confusion, and the sustainability challenge of maintaining quality over time.
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A major DDoS attack hitting major internet services prompted dealers to report whether their websites and industry-specific tools were impacted. Responses indicate mixed results, with some dealers experiencing downtime on their websites and critical industry platforms like RouteOne and Dealer Center going offline, though it's unclear whether all outages were directly caused by the DDoS attack or coincidental infrastructure issues. The thread captures real-time reports during the incident but doesn't reach a definitive conclusion about the full scope of dealer impact.
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John Lane from LotLinx surveys dealers about whether major holidays remain strong sales periods, noting that digital engagement may be altering traditional seasonal shopping patterns and sales peaks. He's promoting an upcoming webinar (September 30) that will present data on this trend and invites dealers to complete a brief survey sharing their recent holiday sales experiences. The thread explores whether the automotive industry's traditional holiday sales boosts are being disrupted by changing consumer behavior.
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Dealership professionals debate whether mystery shopping effectively evaluates lead response and sales processes, with consensus that mystery shopping alone is insufficient without actionable follow-up and coaching. Key criticisms include: OEM shops often use generic, easily-spotted leads; small sample sizes don't reveal the full picture; and sales staff can game the system once they recognize they're being evaluated. The most valuable approach combines mystery shopping with direct lead follow-up evaluation, first-contact quality assessment, and internal spot-checking by management to identify actual process breakdowns.
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A dealer named Alex Snyder asks whether full moons negatively affect customer behavior and dealership profitability, sparking a discussion that ranges from scientific evidence (a sleep study suggesting lunar cycles may impact rest quality) to joking speculation about werewolves and absurd variables like Leonardo DiCaprio movie releases. The thread concludes with skepticism from most participants, who argue that car sales ultimately depend on consistent human interaction skills regardless of lunar phase, though a few anecdotal claims of full moon effects persist.
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Dealers discuss their experiences and takeaways from the 2016 NADA Convention, with highlights including Credit Miner's augmented reality F&I product and recognition that service managers should attend such events. A notable insight emerges that the conference generated minimal social media engagement from dealers themselves, with the #NADA2016 hashtag dominated primarily by vendor self-promotion rather than dealer participation or information sharing.
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Latoya seeks advice on bulk-importing 800+ vehicles into a new online platform, and experienced forum members recommend leveraging existing inventory feeds (XML, CSV, or TXT formats) from providers like HomeNet or DealerTrack via API integration rather than manual entry. After resolving her issue with DealersSolution's support team, the thread concludes with Alex Snyder calling out what he believes are spam tactics by the DealerSolution company using a fake user account.